The Normal of the Kingdom
... “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My kingdom is not from here (John 18:36).”
While on earth, Jesus constantly taught about the kingdom of God and heaven. It was His main thrust. In Matthew’s gospel HIs first words after His baptism and return from the wilderness were: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17; [see also Mark 1:15]).
But it wasn’t until recently that I saw the key to unlocking the manifestation of Jesus’ chief message - laying down one’s soul-life. To begin, although Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, He was also one hundred percent human. Jesus experienced every thing we do (Hebrews 4:15). Yet despite every temptation that pressed about Him, He never sinned or pursued His own will. Neither did He attempt to do anything in His own strength. Christ in His humanity, always sought the Father’s guidance and power, for the sole purpose of revealing Him and His will and kingdom.
...“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seesthe Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner (John 5:19).”
“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me (John 5:30).”
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me (John 6:38).”
...“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. (John 7:16).”
...“I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true... (John 7:28).”
“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. (John 12:49).”
... “He who has seen Me has seen the Father...The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does the works (John 14:9,10).”
... “the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me (John 14:24).”
To repeat, although Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, He was also completely human. And the only way He was capable of carrying out the Father’s will - demonstrating that the kingdom of heaven was indeed at hand - began with Him choosing to lay down His soul-life.
“...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).”
“The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11).”
...“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life...Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. (John 12:23-27).”
The words “life” and “soul” emphasized above are the Greek word, psuche (pronounced psoo- khay’). And Thayer’s Greek Lexicon unpacks its multi-faceted significance: Breath...the vital force which animates the body...the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions...the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness...
Throughout His life on earth: during childhood; in the wilderness temptation; healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons; teaching and preaching the kingdom of heaven in the midst of scrutiny and rebuke by the Jewish leaders and His family; standing before Pilate, the Roman soldiers, and accusing mob; in the terror and anguish of His soul-troubled state, Christ Jesus - the Son of God and Son of Man - freely chose to lay down His breath; His vital force; the seat of His feelings, desires, affections and aversions. And by the right use of the aids offered Him by Holy Spirit, Jesus attained the Father’s highest end.
It was the pivot point between Him walking in His flesh and sinning, or walking in the Spirit and revealing the Father and His kingdom. Jesus’ choice to lay down His soul-life was the catalyst that brought about the will of the Father for all mankind. It was the “normal” way - the only way - the crucial key - to unlocking the manifestation and demonstration of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
...“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight... (John 18:36).”
He didn’t. And they didn’t. But the “normal” of the kingdom is diametrically opposed to the normal of our flesh and the world’s natural tendencies. Metaphorically speaking, this is where the “rubber meets the road.” Where skid marks are all over the nerve center of our feelings, desires, affections, and aversions. It’s where we hit, and even crash through, the guard rails of the laws of the Spirit of
life, as losing our lives makes no sense to our soul-saving ways. Instead, we choose to fight and wrangle, doing everything...anything for self-preservation’s sake; while setting in motion grave consequences.
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it...For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:35-38).”
For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever (I John 2:16,17).
The sad fact is, we do more psuche-saving than we realize. Self-consciousness, hiding, defensiveness, isolating... all are subtle and deceptive means of self-seeking, and show up in multiple ways. Like eating, drinking and drugging. Working. Burning ourselves out. Justifying. Competing and comparing ourselves to one another. Criticizing. Scrutinizing. Striving to be “the greatest in the kingdom.” The list is exhausting. And whether we know it or not, our desperate attempts at saving ourselves always leave us wanting. But there’s hope.
We, like Christ, have been given the freedom to choose to lose our lives for His sake, regardless of what assaults our breath; our vital force; the seat of our feelings, desires, affections, and aversions. And when we do, the futility of our self-preserving ways will die. The door between our born again spirit and soul-life will be unlocked. And by the right use of the aids offered us by Holy Spirit, we will attain the Father’s highest end.
Let more of the following God-breathed, Spirit-filled, flesh-killing commands and promises open up the eyes of your understanding. Let His words heal, renew, and revolutionize your soul-life. It has mine.
“...whoever loses his life (psuche) for My sake and the gospels will save it (Mark 8:35).”
“...love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life (psuche) for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you (John 15:12-14).”
...receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls (psuche) (James 1:21).
Since you have purified your souls (psuche) in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart (I Peter 1:22).
By this we know love, because He laid down His life (psuche) for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives (psuche) for the brethren (I John 3:16).
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul (psuche) prospers (III John 2).
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives (psuche) to the death (Revelation 12:11).
Laying down our soul-life as Jesus did is where genuine living begins. It is where the kingdom of heaven that is indeed at hand, and resident in us, will be manifest through us. It is the “normal” of the kingdom - the only way - the crucial key to unlocking Jesus’ main message.
That’s why we are here. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Resources: New King James Bible Thayer’s Greek Lexicon
https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Lexicon.show/ID/G5590/psuche.htm